Toquinho vs. Avellan - Heel Hook Heard 'Round the World

Dan Faggella is a No Gi Pan Am Champion, a BJJ School Owner, and Writer for Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style (UK), and More. A Recognized Leg Lock Instructor, Dan is Giving Away a Free Heel Hook DVD (with Breakdowns of “Toquinho’s” Awesome Matches) with his Leg Lock Mastery Program at www.BJJLegLocks.com/Mastery

Here again for "#FootlockFriday" here at OnTheMat.com with another leg lock breakdown.

One of the most famous matches of the 2011 ADCC competition (Abu Dhabi Combat Club, the most prestigious no-gi grappling competition in the world) was between the great competitors David Avellan and Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares.

Wrought with controversy, “Toquinho’s” heel hook finish none the less ended up resulting in a win, despite what some people believe was malicious out-of-bounds application of a submission, and a surprising re-start of the match in a full-blown heel hook after the out-of-bounds roll.

Factors for This Heel Hook Finish

Clearly, Avellan is no one to scoff at, particularly in the world of leg locks where he himself is known to be dangerous.

1) Unexpected Setup

The first factor that likely contributed to was an unexpected setup. Now, with Toquinho it might be said that any heel hook setup is “expected”... because he’s TOQUINHO, for crying out loud. However, in MMA as in grappling, his odd angles end up being a huge key to his success.

Here, he goes from a top front headlock position to fully dropping back for the leg lock. The ADCC rules do not punish this back-step in position early in the round. David seemed to very much be expecting the heel hook when on bottom in side control, but from turtle, even I didn’t think it was possible for the setup to go down the way it did.

2) Vicious Torque and Knee Reaping

If you watch Toquinho carefully, you’ll notice he tends to hack the back of his knee directly into the back of the opponent’s knee in order to force the opponent to turn away and expose the heel - then he “cannon balls” around it and begins to belly out.

TREMENDOUS torque is created here, and in the particular case, I believe Avellan’s knee may have been tweaked badly before he was able to extend his leg to defend. Very brutal indeed, if you’re a heel hook person, be nice to your partners, but definitely tune in to the setups and aggressive finishes of Toquinho.

Hopefully this little analysis was helpful - good luck in drilling and be nice to your partner’s knees!

-Daniel “Micro” Faggella

Dan Faggella is a No Gi Pan Am Champion, a BJJ School Owner, and Writer for Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style (UK), and More. A Recognized Leg Lock Instructor, Dan is Giving Away a Free Heel Hook DVD (with Breakdowns of “Toquinho’s” Awesome Matches) with his Leg Lock Mastery Program at www.BJJLegLocks.com/Mastery